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2008-09 Season - 2002-03 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL REVIEW

2002-03 WBB REVIEW

In second season under James Black, Vikings finish 14-9 overall and 9-5 in CCIW; Melissa DeRycke is first team all-conference

Second year head coach James Black led the Augustana Vikings women’s basketball team to a 14-9 overall record and a 9-5 mark in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. It was the second consecutive 14-victory season for the Vikings, coming hard on the heels of last year’s 14-11 campaign.

Things weren’t easy as a scheduling quirk had them on the road for the last six regular season games. After beating North Central by a score of 60-58 on February 1, Black had his team at 11-5 overall and 6-2 in the CCIW. Augustana went 3-3 on the rugged road trip to end the regular season at 14-8 and 9-5. The 9-5 record tied the Vikings for third place in the conference standings and qualified for the inaugural CCIW tournament where they were defeated in the first round by eventual champion Illinois Wesleyan.

It was an historic season for the Blue & Gold as senior Melissa DeRycke (Kewanee Wethersfield HS, Kewanee, IL) became the first Augustana player since Keesha Brooks in 1993 to earn first team all-conference honors. The Vikings also picked up significant victories over Wheaton (68-67 on December 10 at home) and Millikin (57-51 on January 22 at home and 45-44 on February 5 in Decatur, Illinois). The Vikings had lost 12 straight games to Wheaton before nailing the Thunder for the first time since winning 71-68 in 1995-96. The double dip victories over Millikin were especially sweet because the Big Blue had won 18 straight over the Vikings before this year.

DeRycke enjoyed an outstanding season and she finished her career in second place on the school’s field goal percentage list. She had a mark of .538 (284-528) and trailed only the .559 (476-852) set by Keesha Brooks from 1990-93. DeRycke scored 7.8 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 6.4 per game. She also shot .537 (72-134) from the floor to lead the team in field goal percentage. However, this Augustana team had balance throughout its lineup, as evidenced by the fact that nine different players started and eight finished with at least 6.0 points per game.

Kristen Pence (Rochelle HS, Rochelle, IL) led the team in scoring for the second consecutive year. She averaged 11.9 points per game this year after averaging 11.6 as a freshman. Right behind her in scoring was senior Becky Ince (Kewanee Wethersfield HS, Kewanee, IL) at 8.4. Ince was a third team all-conference selection and then was chosen as the team’s Most Valuable Player in a vote of her teammates at the end of the season. She was also named the Vikings Best Defensive Player.

Junior point guard Kristin Romolo (Washington HS, Washington, IL) came very close to setting a new school record for single season assists. She finished the campaign with 111 assists, just one shy of the school record of 112 set by Diane Garrison in 1983-84.

Senior Christina Rathe (Lake Zurich HS, Lake Zurich, IL) finished her career in top 10 in both field goal and free throw percentage. She ended up seventh in career free throw percentage with a mark of .721 (235-326) and also seventh in career field goal percentage at .476 (221-464).